Unparalleled

Chapter Four

Damon was mulling around his room, a small content smile plastered across his face. He had been afraid that his kiss would be poorly received; he thought that Jeremy would have balked at his advance. Instead, Damon was pleasantly surprised to find Jeremy a more than willing participant.

He loathed to admit it, but their kiss had been perfect. So perfect, that Damon had decided that it would be best for Jeremy to go home for the evening. He had explained that rather than talk about what they had just experienced right then, that maybe it would be better if they slept on what they had just experienced.

Jeremy had tried to disagree, but Damon won out in the end, a fact that had caused the younger Gilbert to pout. To Damon, Jeremy seemed more than okay with what had transpired between the two, a fact that pleased Damon to no end, and also promised a happy night reflecting on the perfection that was Jeremy Gilbert.

This promise, however, was near impossible the when his dear brother decided to rain on his parade.

"Is this some sick way of getting to Elena?" Stefan asked, perched in the entryway to Damon's room. "Jeremy, I mean. Really Damon, on the couch in the main sitting room where anyone can see you? You're slipping," he finished, glaring at his brother.

"This may come as a surprise, dear brother," Damon began, immediately tensing at the mention of the object of his affection, "but my life doesn't revolve around Elena Gilbert, nor does it center upon claiming her as my own," he finished, turning his back.

"Then why Jeremy? Jesus Damon, why the hell would you be interested in him unless he wasn't serving some purpose?" Stefan said, moving into the room.

Damon whirled around and faced his brother. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I just like his company?" he asked.

"Honestly Damon, I have a hard time believing that considering your track record. Everything you do is geared towards somehow getting exactly what you want. That's how it's been and how it's always going to be," Stefan said, before he continued. "This whole thing seems like an attempt to get Elena. Her little brother? Really? Little desperate for you Damon," he finished as he watched his brother move across his room to his bed.

"For the love of God, Elena doesn't factor into this at all, besides the fact that her room is right next to his and one day things might get a little awkward," Damon responded, flashing his trademark smirk as he jumped back on to his bed, propping himself up.

At Stefan's incredulous look, Damon huffed before he once again began talking. "I want nothing to do with Elena Gilbert. She is another Katherine waiting to happen. Been on that crazy train, no way in hell am I getting back on it," he said.

"Elena is nothing like Katherine," Stefan said, trying to defend his girlfriend, angry that his brother dared to voice such a comparison.

"Elena is exactly like Katherine. Don't delude yourself into thinking that she isn't," Damon said, his eyebrows arching into his hairline, his face conveying his disbelief and disgust.

Stefan shook his head. "How do you even get to that conclusion. Please, enlighten me," he said.

"She string us along Stefan. Open your eyes. She plays you off of me and plays me against you. Sound familiar?" Damon said, swiftly losing patience with the other man. "She is manipulative as the day is long. She may not realize it now, pretty sure Katherine didn't either in the beginning, but she uses people. She is self-centered, a true narcissist" Damon said, his face reflecting how deeply he believed his words.

"Elena is far from self-centered," Stefan replied. "I bet she wouldn't be thinking about herself if I told her just what Jeremy had been up to lately. Guarantee Jenna wouldn't be so appreciative either," Stefan retorted, confident that his words would cause Damon to pause.

"Don't you dare bring him into this, Stefan. Leave him alone," Damon growled, his eyes succumbing to his inner nature. He ghosted across the room, too quick for even a vampire as old as Stefan to prepare. "Whatever I have going with Jeremy is between me and him. Leave Elena out of the loop," he said as he dropped his brother and moved to leave the room.

Stefan stood up quickly and caught Damon in the hall before he could descend the stairs. Damon growled as his brother's hands came into contact with his skin, his warning evident in the vicious sound. Stefan backed up, his hands in the air, attempting to show he meant no harm.

"What makes him so special?" Stefan asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Damon failed to his answer his brother right away, opting instead to formulate an answer which simultaneously answered Stefan's question while allowing Damon to keep some shred of privacy.

"I've never meant anyone like before," Damon admitted. "I've been around for more than 140 years and I've never come across someone like him," Damon said softly, unused to vulnerable feeling he was suddenly burdened with.

Stefan just shook his head. "I've heard this before Damon, many times. And you always come right back to Katherine, and now Elena," he said, not an ounce of compassion or sympathy detectable in his voice.

Damon sighed heavily, unwilling to launch himself into another argument. "I can't go back to wanting or loving either of them. I don't think I ever loved either of them to be honest," Damon started.

"Katherine was this powerful creature that called to me. She could give me this life of adventure. That's what influenced my liking of her. And Elena was just an echo of that. I wanted them for their bodies and what they could give me, not what I feel," Damon continued, sincerity wringing through his words, slowly crumbling Stefan's resolve to destroy whatever was budding between the two men.

Stefan was at a loss of words. The old Damon he had once known, the Damon before Katherine Pierce and vampirism and the Civil War, was standing in front of him. Stefan couldn't recall a time he had seen Damon's eyes so full of affection and certainty. It was disconcerting to him, to think that Jeremy wasn't just a pawn in one of his brother's games, but more of an ideal mate. His logic was further supported by Damon's following words.

"I want Jeremy because he make's my chest feel tight. He makes me feel human Stefan. Do you know how much I miss that? Feeling human? Ever since you forced me into this life I have been trying to clamp down the 'switch' that everyone keeps talking about. But I can't, and it just sucks," Damon admitted, finally opening up.

Stefan's heart clenched, the familiar tingling of guilt radiating from within himself. He had no clue how deep his brother's emotions ran.

Damon was silent, trying to shut out all of the feelings that were pounding down on him. "He makes me feel human, and it doesn't hurt when I'm with him. When I'm near him it's all manageable. I don't feel the urge to destroy or hurt things."

Stefan regarded his brother with a new look. Damon's words made sense; the man had been docile and quiet. "I'll stay quiet. I won't tell Elena or Jenna," he said, doing his best to reassure his brother.

Damon just nodded his head in response. "Thank you, that's all that I ask. This is new for both of us," he said after a moment of silence.

Giving his brother a cross between a smirk and a genuine smile, he moved to reenter his room. Picking up his phone, he shot off a text to the youngest Gilbert, inquiring what he had planned for the weekend.

AN: So what do you think? Thank you guys for all of the awesome reviews, I really appreciated them; they gave me the inspiration to keep writing.

So, having said that, give me some more inspiration!